The Citizen, 1996-12-11, Page 1See page 7 See page 8 See page 23
The North Huron
izen Teen hurt
T crash
Vol. 12 No. 49
Wednesday, Dec. 11, 1996
700 -4- 50 GST7 50
Keeping an eye on old St. Nick
Out of the corner of his eye, young Ian Scott, right, watched every action of Santa Claus as
he had his turn visiting the jolly fellow at the Ark in Brussels, Dec. 7, after the annual Santa
Claus parade. Lapmate Nick Gowing wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing as
dozens of children lined up to greet Santa and receive a bag of candy. Despite the cold, the
main street of the village was lined with parade watchers.
MADD campaign underway
Hospitals
Hundreds support
Listowel, Wingham
hospitals
See page 6, 7
News
Wingham
physician opens
office in Blyth
Sports
Cruaders get 2
wins in weekend
action
Review
Grand Theatre has
`Great
Expectations'
Hospitals
Staff
share
concerns
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
Even with the future prospects
for one of their local hospitals look-
ing positive, more than 70 residents
of the Brussels area, turned out at
the Dec. 3 information meeting at
Brussels Morris Grey Community
Centre to discuss the future of
health care in Huron-Perth.
Members of the hospital restruc-
turing task force and board mem-
bers and personnel from Seaforth
Community Hospital outlined the
details and ramifications of the
three options suggested by the task
force for Huron Perth District
Health Council.
Though Seaforth hospital was
listed as a Primary Care Centre
with acute and chronic beds, in
each option, there were limitations
to service which the doctors and
staff were not willing to accept.
As a primary hospital, Seaforth
would have 24-hour emergency
care, lab and imaging services and
would be able to handle day-to-day
functions which could be accom-
plished by a general practitiohef
such as minor procedures or those
requiring dlOcal anaesthetic.
The -concern voiced by Dr. Mark
Woldnik, thief of staff at Seaforth,
was that this limitation may no,t
allow obstetric services at any
facility other than Alexandra
Marine and General Hospital in
Goderich and Stratford General
Hospital, which were named sec-
ondary hospitals in the task force
report.
Full-surgical back-up for obstet-
rics would only be provided at sec-
ondary care centres where general
anaesthetic would be available.
Such services would not be on-site
at primary care centres, said Wold-
nik, according to the options sug-
gested.
"Residents should consider if
obstetrics should be maintained at
four sites, the two secondary and
two primary," he said. (The ser-
vice) will be going from seven sites
to two:'
Aside from the need for obstetric
services required at more than two
sites, Woldnik was also concerned
about the inability of smaller hospi-
tal to do day surgeries which
require general anaesthetic.
With more hospital services
being done on an outpatient basis
because of new technologies,
Woldnik suggested minor day
surgery should stay at at least four
sites.
"The focus should not be on the
number of beds at a facility, he
said, "because many services are
supplied by others, such as nurses,
nurse practitioners, midwives and
homecare workers. We must be
willing to reach out to other groups,
such as nursing homes, and work
together. That is good for the corn-
Continued on page 7
Though the holiday season is a
time of happiness and joy, it can
also be one long remembered with
grief when common sense is not
put into action. Once again, MADD
(Mothers Against Drunk Driving),
in co-operation with LCBOs and
many other businesses throughout
the province, are encouraging par-
tygoers to be aware of the dangers
The results are in and western
Ontario communities are slacking
off when it comes to buckling up.
With 250,000 vehicles observed
in 120 communities, seatbelts are
being used less than last year.
By comparison, Arthur residents
buckled up 90 per cent of the time
while Wingham residents tied in at
a rate of 67 per cent. Bayfield was
of drinking and driving.
Project Red Ribbon reminds
motorists to be safe and sober
drivers.
MADD is not anti-alcohol bu ,
just to drink wisely. "Impaired
drivers are gambling with the safe-
ty of everyone on the road," said
Tony Carvalho, chair of MADD
75.8 per cent; Goderich, 70 per cent
and Lucknow, 73 per cent.
In the first week of the police
RIDE program there were 1,119
vehicles checked with one 12-hour
suspension issued. There were four
in 1995. To Dec. 5, no impaired
charges had been laid, while there
were three last year.
During its first week RIDE
reports property damage due to
Canada.
Even with two million ribbons
distributed across Canada last year,
approximately 1,650 people were
killed in alcohol-related crashes.
Support can be given to the cam-
paign by making a donation in Pro-
ject Red Ribbon boxes at several
local stores.
vehicle collisions had increased, as
well as there being an increase in
the number of collisions from 16 to
17.
Personal injuries due to collisions
dropped to three from four and
other persons injured went from
eight to three.
There were no fatal motor vehi-
cle collisions for the week.
An area teen sustained major
injuries following a collision with a
truck on Dec. 6 in Tuckersmith
Twp.
According to OPP, Mark McNi-
chol, 19 of McKillop Twp. was
travelling on Conc. 2/3 at 1:35
p.m., when his pickup collided with
a truck driven by Bruce Buurma,
17 of RR3, Watford.
Volunteers from Seaforth Fire
Department extricated McNichol
from the truck. He was taken to
Seaforth Hospital before being air
lifted to London. Buurma's injuries
were reported as minimal.
The Buurma vehicle was carry-
ing chemicals which became dis-
lodged on impact. Several plastic
barrels ruptured and the contents
spilled into the ditch and field west
of Sideroad 5/6, police say. The
Ministry of Environment and Ener-
gy was notified. OPP say the mate-
rial spilled, chlorine, peroxide and
detergent sap were contained and a
clean sweep was completed.
Accident
claims
life
A Goderich woman died follow-
ing a crash in Goderich Twp., just
west of Clinton on Dec. 6.
The accident occured on Hwy 8
at 10:30 p.m. Dorothy Cuyler, 72
was killed when her car slid out of
control into the path of a
tractor/trailer unit driven by 53-
year-old John Haggerty of
Chatham. Police report road condi-
tions were snow covered and slip-
pery.
A passenger in the Cuyler vehi-
cle, Jean Bate, 58 of Goderich was
taken to Clinton Hospital, then
transferred to Victoria in London,
with critical injuries.
Fire in
Brussels
Brussels firefighters battled for
over an hour on Saturday morning
to save a William St. house.
Fire Chief Murray McArter said
the fire, at the home of Jim
Bridges, started shortly after noon
when a woodstove overheated.
McArter said there was extensive
damage to the porch and kitchen
before the blaze was extinguished.
The remainder of the house was
damaged by smoke.
There was no estimate at press
time.
RIDE nets 1 suspension